José Luis Sampedro Sáez (

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, 1 February 1917 –

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, 8 April 2013) was a Spanish economist and writer who advocated an economy "more humane, more caring, able to help develop the dignity of peoples". Academician of the

Real Academia Española The Royal Spanish Academy ( es, Real Academia Española, generally abbreviated as RAE) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with ...

since 1990, he was the recipient of the

Order of Arts and Letters of Spain The Order of Arts and Letters of Spain ( es, Orden de las Artes y las Letras de España) is a Civil Order of Merit of Spain. Established 24 July 2008, it is awarded to individuals and other entities, both Spanish and foreign, who have distinguish ...

, the

Menéndez Pelayo International Prize The Menéndez Pelayo International Prize has been awarded since 1987 by the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP) with the objective of honoring those persons whose literary or scientific work has a humanistic orientation and application, ...

(2010) and the Spanish Literature National Prize (2011)."El Nacional de las Letras premia el compromiso de Sampedro. El galardón, dotado con 40.000 euros, reconoce la la trayectoria de un autor y su obra en cualquiera de las lenguas oficiales del Estado"
''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

''. Retrieved 9 April 2013. He became an inspiration for the

anti-austerity movement in Spain The anti-austerity movement in Spain, also referred to as the 15-M Movement (Spanish: ''Movimiento 15-M''), and the Indignados Movement, was a series of protests, demonstrations, and occupations against austerity policies in Spain that began aro ...

Biography

In 1917, the year of his birth, his family moved to

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the cap ...

(

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

), where he lived until aged thirteen. In 1936 he was mobilized by the Republican faction in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

, fighting in an

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

battalion. He spent the war serving variously in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

Guadalajara, Castilla-La Mancha Guadalajara (, ) is a city and municipality in Spain, located in the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. It is the capital of the Province of Guadalajara. Lying on the central part of the Iberian Peninsula at roughly metres above s ...

and Huete ( Cuenca). After the war, he was again called up and served in the garrison of the Spanish enclave of

Melilla Melilla ( , ; ; rif, Mřič ; ar, مليلية ) is an autonomous city of Spain located in north Africa. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was par ...

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. After the war he obtained work as a

customs officer A customs officer is a law enforcement agent who enforces customs laws, on behalf of a government. Canada Canadian customs officers are members of the Canada Border Services Agency. It was created in 2003 and preceded by the Canada Customs and ...

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a m ...

before moving to

, where, in 1944 he married Elizabeth Pellicer before completing his

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

studies in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

in 1947, winning, in the process, the award of an "Extraordinary Prize". Thereafter he started working with a major Spanish

financial institution Financial institutions, sometimes called banking institutions, are business entities that provide services as intermediaries for different types of financial monetary transactions. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial insti ...

at that moment, the

Banco Exterior de España Banco may refer to: Places * Banc (Barcelona Metro), also called Banco, a closed metro stop on the Barcelona metro * Banco, Virginia, an unincorporated community * Banco, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Banco National Park, a natio ...

whilst also teaching at the university. In 1955 he became the

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Economic policy The economy of governments covers the systems for setting levels of taxation, government budgets, the money supply and interest rates as well as the labour market, national ownership, and many other areas of government interventions into the e ...

at the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...

, which post he held until 1969, combining teaching with various positions in the Banco Exterior de España, where he reached the post of deputy

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

. Meanwhile, he published academic works about the post economic reality and structural analysis and the European future of Spain and also wrote his first

theatrical play A play is a work of drama, usually consisting mostly of dialogue between characters and intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. The writer of a play is called a playwright. Plays are performed at a variety of levels, fr ...

''A place to live'' (1955). Around 1965 and 1966 there was a purge of prominent university professors in Spain including the philosopher :es:José Luis López Aranguren and socialist lawyer

Enrique Tierno Galván Enrique Tierno Galván (Madrid, 8 February 1918 – Madrid, 19 January 1986) was a Spanish politician, sociologist, lawyer and essayist, best known for being the Mayor of Madrid from 1979 to 1986, at the beginning of the new period of Spanish de ...

, as a result of which he decided to become a

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

at the Universities of

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

. Along with other teachers, Sampedro created the Spanish Center for Studies and Research (CEISA), a symbol of intellectual independence which would be closed in

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

three years later. In 1968 he was appointed as

Anna Howard Shaw Anna Howard Shaw (February 14, 1847 – July 2, 1919) was a leader of the women's suffrage movement in the United States. She was also a physician and one of the first ordained female Methodist ministers in the United States. Early life Shaw ...

lecturer at

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United St ...

for women in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

USA On his return to Spain he requested a

leave of absence The labour law concept of leave, specifically paid leave or, in some countries' long-form, a leave of absence, is an authorised prolonged absence from work, for any reason authorised by the workplace. When people "take leave" in this way, they are ...

from Complutense University and published a satirical play called ''the naked horse''. After the death of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

In 1976 he returned to the Banco Exterior de España as a consultant economist. In 1977 he was appointed senator by

Royal prerogative The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy, as belonging to the sovereign and which have become widely vested in th ...

King Juan Carlos King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ti ...

, then, following the first democratic

Spanish general election, 1977 The 1977 Spanish general election was held on Wednesday, 15 June 1977, to elect the Spanish Cortes of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as all 207 seats in the Senate. It was the first ...

he was elected as a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

a post he held until 1979. In parallel to his professional activity as an economist, he published several novels and continued to write after his official retirement, achieving great successes with works like ''October, October'', ''Etruscan smile'' or ''Old siren''. Sadly, his literary successes coincided with the tragic news of the death of his wife, Isabel Pellicer, in 1986. In 1990 he was appointed member of the

Royal Spanish Academy The Royal Spanish Academy ( es, Real Academia Española, generally abbreviated as RAE) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with ...

, the definitive authority on the

Castilian Spanish In English, Castilian Spanish can mean the variety of Peninsular Spanish spoken in northern and central Spain, the standard form of Spanish, or Spanish from Spain in general. In Spanish, the term (Castilian) can either refer to the Spanish langua ...

where his

heterodox In religion, heterodoxy (from Ancient Greek: , "other, another, different" + , "popular belief") means "any opinions or doctrines at variance with an official or orthodox position". Under this definition, heterodoxy is similar to unorthodoxy, w ...

inaugural address, ''From the border'' related to the subject of his novel ''The old siren'', published that same year, which can be considered a Spanish hymn to ''life, love and tolerance''. In 2003 the

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...

ed Sampedro was remarried to the writer, poet and translator :es:Olga Lucas in the spa town of

Alhama de Aragón Alhama de Aragón is a spa town located in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, situated on the river Jalón, a tributary of the Ebro. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 1,150 inhabitants. Principal indust ...

. Thereafter he spent part of the year on

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

, in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

a place of myths whose symbols, the

Dracaena draco ''Dracaena draco'', the Canary Islands dragon tree or drago, is a subtropical tree in the genus '' Dracaena'', native to the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Madeira, western Morocco, and is thought to be introduced in the Azores. Its closest living ...

tree, is supposedly home to the

Tenerife blue chaffinch The Tenerife blue chaffinch (''Fringilla teydea'') is a species of passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is endemic to Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands. This bird is the natural symbol of this island, together with the Canary Is ...

of the

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

peak of

Mount Teide Teide, or Mount Teide, ( es, El Teide, Pico del Teide, , "Peak of Teide") is a volcano on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, Spain. Its summit (at ) is the highest point in Spain and the highest point above sea level in the islands of the Atlan ...

which inspired him to write ''The path of the dragon tree''. He exercised his critical

humanism Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

about what he viewed as the

moral A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. A ...

and

social disruption Social disruption is a term used in sociology to describe the alteration, dysfunction or breakdown of social life, often in a community setting. Social disruption implies a radical transformation, in which the old certainties of modern society are ...

arising from

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

style

Neoliberalism Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

and

Capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

. In reference to this, he added his grain of sand to the

Anti-austerity movement in Spain The anti-austerity movement in Spain, also referred to as the 15-M Movement (Spanish: ''Movimiento 15-M''), and the Indignados Movement, was a series of protests, demonstrations, and occupations against austerity policies in Spain that began aro ...

during May 2011 by writing the preface to the Spanish edition of the book '' Time for Outrage'' by the French diplomat

Stéphane Hessel Stéphane Frédéric Hessel (20 October 1917 – 26 February 2013) was a diplomat, ambassador, writer, concentration camp survivor, French Resistance member and BCRA agent. Born German, he became a naturalised French citizen in 1939. He be ...

. Sampedro died on April 8, 2013, in Madrid, aged 96 years old.

Awards

In 2002 Sampedro was appointed honorary non-executive chairman of the Spanish

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

company Sintratel, along with Nobel prizewinner

José Saramago José de Sousa Saramago, GColSE ComSE GColCa (; 16 November 1922 – 18 June 2010), was a Portuguese writer and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony ith which heco ...

. Sintratel is a skit on ''sin trabajo telecoms'' or ''telecommunications workers without work''. In 2008, he was awarded the Medal of the

Order of Charlemagne The Order of Charlemagne ( ca, Orde de Carlemany) is the only order and civil decoration issued by the Principality of Andorra. History The Order of Charlemagne was created 7 December 2007 by the Minister of Culture Juli Minoves Triquell wi ...

by the

Principality of Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

. In April 2009 he was invested as

Doctor Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

of the

University of Seville The University of Seville (''Universidad de Sevilla'') is a university in Seville, Spain. Founded under the name of ''Colegio Santa María de Jesús'' in 1505, it has a present student body of over 69.200, and is one of the top-ranked universi ...

. In 2010 was awarded the XXIV

for his "many contributions to human thought" as, variously, an economist, writer and teacher. Additionally, the Spanish

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

awarded Sampedro the

on 2 November 2010 for "his outstanding literary career and his thought committed to the problems of his time". In 2011, he received the

Premio Nacional de las Letras Españolas The Premio Nacional de las Letras Españolas or National Prize for Spanish Literature is one of several National Prizes awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Culture. First awarded in 1984, it recognises an author's literary career. The prize is 4 ...

. On May 24, 2012 was invested Doctor Honoris Causa by the

University of Alcalá The University of Alcalá ( es, Universidad de Alcalá) is a public university located in Alcalá de Henares, a city 35 km (22 miles) northeast of Madrid in Spain and also the third-largest city of the region. It was founded in 1293 as a ...

near Madrid.≪José Luis Sampedro, Enrique V. Iglesias y Luis M. Enciso, nuevos Doctores Honoris Causa por la UAH »
Universidad de Alcalá. Consultado el 17 de junio de 2014

Aranjuez

Route followed by wood transporters of the Tagus River in ''The river that leads..''. In his novel ''Royal Site'', Sampedro takes a tour of the

Royal Palace of Aranjuez The Royal Palace of Aranjuez ( es, Palacio Real de Aranjuez) is one of the official residences of the Spanish royal family. It is located in the town of Aranjuez (Madrid), Spain. Established in the 16th century as a royal hunting lodge, the pal ...

and its gardens. echoing the sentiments o the geographer :es:Thomas Lopez. That

Aranjuez Aranjuez () is a city and municipality of Spain, part of the Community of Madrid. Located in the southern end of the region, the main urban nucleus lies on the left bank of Tagus, a bit upstream the discharge of the Jarama. , the municipality h ...

is the ''real and true'' center of Spain. Aranjuez is also the final terminal of a route followed by timber rafters floating timber to the

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

s along the '' Rio Tajo'' in the novel ''A river that leads''. His is celebrated locally in the José Sampedro Centro de Educación de Adultos and a conference room of the municipal cultural center.

Works

About economy

*''Principios prácticos de localización industrial'' (1957) *''Realidad económica y análisis estructural'' (1959) *''Las fuerzas económicas de nuestro tiempo'' (1967) *''Conciencia del subdesarrollo'' (1973) *''Inflación: una versión completa'' (1976) *''El mercado y la globalización'' (2002) *''Los mongoles en Bagdad'' (2003) *''Sobre política, mercado y convivencia'' (2006) *''Economía humanista. Algo más que cifras'' (2009) *''El mercado y nosotros''

Novels

*''La estatua de Adolfo Espejo'' (1939) -unpublished 1994– *''La sombra de los días'' (1947) -unpublished 1994– *''Congreso en Estocolmo'' (1952) *''

El río que nos lleva ''El río que nos lleva'' is a 1989 Spanish drama film directed by Antonio del Real based on the novel of the same name by José Luis Sampedro. It stars Tony Peck, Alfredo Landa, and Eulàlia Ramon. Plot Set in 1946, the plot depicts the last l ...

'' (1961) *''El caballo desnudo'' (1970) *''Octubre, octubre'' (1981) *'' La sonrisa etrusca'' (1985) *'' La vieja sirena'' (1990) *'' Real Sitio'' (1993) *''El amante lesbiano'' (2000) *''La senda del drago'' (2006) *''Cuarteto para un solista'' (2011) -collaboration with Olga Lucas-

Tales

*''Mar al fondo'' (1992) *''Mientras la tierra gira'' (1993)

Other works

*''Escribir es vivir'' (2005) -autobiography written with Olga Lucas- *''La escritura necesaria'' (2006) -essay-dialogue on his novels and his life. *''La ciencia y la vida'' (2008) -dialogue next to the cardiologist Valentin Fuster ordered by Olga Lucas- *''Reacciona'' (2011)

References

External links

Fallece José Luis Sampedro a los 96 añosEl Periscopio – Rosa María ArtalProducción de rtve que con el título de ''El río que nos lleva'' es un documental autobiográfico, presentado por el propio José Luis Sampedro.Entrevista a José Luis Sampedro
*. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sampedro, Jose Luis 1917 births 2013 deaths Spanish economists Spanish male writers